Toy battleship



Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE TOY BATTLESHIP Ed'warctW. Koepnick, .Dayton,' Ohio Application October 18, 1947,.Serial No. 780,649

2 Claims: (Cl. 27'3'.-102.1)

Thisinvention relates to. a toy battleship and more-particularly to a battleship that has the appearance of being demolished when hit by a missile-from a toy submarine of the typedisclosed inmy copending application, Serial No. 627,252, filedNovember 7, 1945 andnow abandoned.

This application is a continuation in part of the'above identified applicationand is directed to an improved formof toy battleship.

An'object'of this invention is to'provide animproved toy'battleship construction which is both inexpensive tomanufacture and durable.

Another object of this invention is to provide a plastic'construction' which may be formed by the useofsimple molds usinga minimum amount of material...

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof and the modeeof-operatiom aszwilhbecome more apparent from the following description.

In the drawings;

Figure 1 is a plan view of a toy'si mu'lating a" battleship;

Figure 2 is an elevational. view of the toy-bat-- tleship shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is-a plan view of abattleship shown in Figures land 2 with the deck'and super-structure removed so as to showthe construction and arrangement of the spring mechanism used for throwing the deck and super-structure up in the air;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 4- of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale and taken substantially on line 55 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Figure 3.

As shown in the drawings, the battleship comprises a molded plastic main body or hull 200 which is adapted to rest on the floor or other support and which serves as a support for a flat piece of plastic or other material 252 resembling the deck of a boat. Suitable super-structure elements such as the smoke stack unit 204 and the gun turrets 208 loosely rest on top of the deck member 282 so that when the deck member 202 is thrown up into the air by a snap mechanism to be described hereinafter, the gun mounts and the super-structure are thrown clear of the deck so as to make the demolition of the battleship seem very realistic.

The snap mechanism used for demolishing the battleship resembles the spring mechanism of a mouse trap and comprises a spring or snap member2l0- which is pivotally supported on a pin 2i2 carried by-apair of spacedsheet metal supports which it is shown in Figuresii and 4 to the dotted line position in which it is shown'in Figure 4 A sl-idable trigger or latch 218 is arranged to hold thesnap member 2l0 downbeneath the-upper edge of the ships hull when the snap mechanism-- 'is' inthecocked-position. When the outer end of the latch 253 is hit by means'of a toy-torpedo," the latch elementwill move inwardlyso that the notch portion 226 provided in the oneedge of the latch 2-i3 clears the hump shOWnin thesnap member 2 I 0-.

In order to'irn-prove theaction'of the latch elee away from the spring or snap member 21 ll.

The-latcheIe-ment .ZiB is slidably held in place 1 between a'le'dge 230 (provided as-an integral part of the-imolded hull) and a plastic insert 232 which is'l'feldiimplace by means of-a plurality-of screwsi 234% The=hull oftheship is-reinforced by- 'means of snitable ribs 236- provided at -appropriate 10-- cations as indicated.

The supports 214 are flat stampings which pass through openings 240 provided in the specially constructed reinforcing rib 242. The upper ends of the supports 2M are apertured as shown for I receiving the pin M2 and the lower ends are bent at right angles to the main body thereof so as to hold the supports in place. This construction is very inexpensive and eliminates the need for the use of screws and bolts which might jar loose and yet makes it possible to quickly replace a broken support if necessary.

While it is preferable to use molded plastic material for the main ship structure, some of the features of this invention are equally applicable to ships made from metal, wood, cardboard or any other type of material.

Although the preferred embodiment of the de vice has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

It will be noted that in the event the spring 2 I 0 breaks, a new spring may be inserted by hand without the need for any tools by merely sliding the pin 2l2 sideways a distance just enough to disengage the one end of the pin from the aperture in the post 24. This makes it possible to replace the broken spring after which the pin is easily returned to the position shown.

The spring tension may be reduced by unhooking the one end of the spring from the snap member 2H1. This is usually done when the toy is to be used by smaller children.

While Figures 1 and 2 show the deck member 202 resting on top of the hull 200, it is preferable to use a deck such as the deck 202a shown in Figure 4 which fits down into the hull. This prevents the deck from sliding sideways on the hull when the torpedo misses the target 218 but hits the hull. The deck 202a rests on the ledges 236a formed by the end reinforcing ribs as shown. The superstructure elements have not been shown in Figure 4, but these would be similar to those shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A toy battleship having a first molded plastic shell member resembling a bottomless and a deckless hull of a battleship, said shell member including transversely extending reinforcingribs, a substantially flat plate resting on said shell member so as to simulate the deck of the battle-,

ship, superstructure elements freely resting on said plate, means for throwing said plate and said superstructure elements clear of the hull, said last named means including a snap mechanism, said snap mechanism comprising a snap spring mounted on one of said reinforcing ribs and having a loop portion adapted to flip through 180 when the spring is actuated from a loaded position to an unloaded position, a latch for holding the spring in loaded position, said latch comprising a one piece sheet metal stamping forming a reciprocating plunger having a target portion projecting from one side of said shell member, said shell member including a transversely extending ledge for reinforcing said shell member 4 adjacent said latch and for slidably guiding said plunger, one of said reinforcing ribs being substantially U-shaped in cross section and being arranged in the path of said loop portion so as to serve as a stop therefor at the end of the snap operation.

2. A toy battleship having a first molded plastic shell member resembling a bottomless and a deckless hull of a battleship, said shell member including transversely extending reinforcing ribs, a substantially flat plate resting on said shell member so as to simulate the deck of the battleship, superstructure elements freely resting on said plate, means for throwing said plate and said superstructure elements clear of the hull, said last named means including a snap mechanism, said snap mechanism comprising a pivot pin and a snap spring mounted on said pivot pin and having a loop portion adapted to flip through 180 when the spring is actuated from a loaded position to an unloaded position, a pair of sheet metal mounting posts projecting through one of said ribs for supporting said pivot pin thereon, each of said mountingposts comprising a sheet metal stamping having a bearing aperture for said pivot pin at its upper end and a right angle projection at its lower end for preventing removal thereof, and a latch means for holding the spring in loaded position, said latch means comprising a reciprocating plunger having a portion projecting from one side of said shell member, said shell member including a transversely extending ledge for reinforcing said shell member adjacent said latch means and for slidably guidingsaid plunger, one of said reinforcing ribs being substantially U-shaped in cross section and being arranged in the path of said loop portion at one end of its path of travel so as to serve as a stop therefor, another of said reinforcing ribs serving as a means for supporting said snap spring.

EDWARD W. KOEPNICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,146,753 Dickey July 13, 19.15 1,225,393 Audsley May 8, 1917 1,859,100 Lewis May 17, 1932 2,287,266 Ostrander June 23, 1942 

